Two women killed and five other people injured in car pile-up

[Lite Beer]

Two women killed and five other people injured in car pile-up

KANCHANBURI: -- Two women killed and five other people injured in car pile-upTwo women killed and five other people injured in car pile-up

Two women were killed and five others injured in a pile-up involving seven cars at a traffic light in Kanchanaburi when a ten-wheel truck crashed into the back of one of the seven cars.
The fatal road accident took place at a traffic light in front of Wat Ban Thong on Saengchuto road in Tha Muang district.

Police said that seven cars were stopping at the traffic light when, out of a sudden, one ten-wheel truck failed to stop and crashed into the rear of the seventh car in which two women were travelling.

The two women were crushed to death in the wreck of their car and the force of the impact sent the ill-fated car to slam into the preceding car causing a pile-up involving altogether seven sedans.

It was reported that the seventh car also caught fire after the impact from the truck but municipal workers managed to douse the fire in time before it spread out to the other cars.

The truck driver whose identity was not disclosed at press time was held in custody for interrogation as to the cause of the accident.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/two-women-killed-and-five-other-people-injured-in-car-pile-up

-- Thai PBS 2015-03-08

[Just1Voice]

Another truck driver going entirely too fast, not paying attention, half asleep, high on yabba and M-150. I can already tell you his excuse: "My brakes failed." No, dickwad, your BRAIN failed!

[aothai]

Another truck driver going entirely too fast, not paying attention, half asleep, high on yabba and M-150. I can already tell you his excuse: "My brakes failed." No, dickwad, your BRAIN failed!

Exactly, correct.

[Rob8891]

BiB will be relieved...they can go back to their nefarious activities as the TV sleuths have the case all wrapped up from their keyboards.

[billphillips]

Total brake failure on a truck or bus .... Near Impossible.

Truck brakes for vehicles over 7500k (7.5T) are operated by air pressure.

Actually, the air pressure works a brake actuator. The actuator is a very powerful spring and diaphragm device. The spring puts the brake ON. The air holds the brake OFF.

On a ten wheeler truck there are six actuators, one for each brake drum. If one fails on the air side .. All air pressure would be lost and the brakes would go on. If one fails on the spring side .. The actuator would break open under the pressure of the spring, air pressure would be lost, the brakes would go on. These devices are good and virtually fail proof, they have been in use for the past 50 years or so.

Any driver that claims and any authority that accepts "total brake failure" should be thoroughly investigated and dealt with.

[cornishcarlos]

BiB will be relieved...they can go back to their nefarious activities as the TV sleuths have the case all wrapped up from their keyboards.

Well the only other possible explanation is, the 2 women hitched up tow lines to the cars in front and then reversed really fast into the truck.

I'm going with the 1st theory, could be wrong though ?

[billphillips]

The printed word ....

Like I said, total brake failure ... Near impossible.

[clockman]

The printed word ....ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect1425810549.389736.jpg

Like I said, total brake failure ... Near impossible.

But. T.I.T.

[Cuchulainn]

And so the road carnage goes on and on and on and on and on and on.........................

[tingtongfarang]

The printed word ....ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect1425810549.389736.jpg

Like I said, total brake failure ... Near impossible.

What happens when the brake linings are shot?

Serious question as i have owned 2 vehicles with this system but never had problems,

I remember the MAN 4x4 truck would take about 5 minutes till enough air pressure was there to turn the parking brake off and at that point the seat came up, was also a wait till the clutch could be pushed down or the gear selector would do anything.

Edited March 8, 2015 by tingtongfarang

[robertthebruce]

Sadly a daily event here in ''Thailand'' Road Safety just does not exist..

[Estrada]

Total brake failure on a truck or bus .... Near Impossible.

Truck brakes for vehicles over 7500k (7.5T) are operated by air pressure.

Actually, the air pressure works a brake actuator. The actuator is a very powerful spring and diaphragm device. The spring puts the brake ON. The air holds the brake OFF.

On a ten wheeler truck there are six actuators, one for each brake drum. If one fails on the air side .. All air pressure would be lost and the brakes would go on. If one fails on the spring side .. The actuator would break open under the pressure of the spring, air pressure would be lost, the brakes would go on. These devices are good and virtually fail proof, they have been in use for the past 50 years or so.

Any driver that claims and any authority that accepts "total brake failure" should be thoroughly investigated and dealt with.

Not in my experience. For instance, one of my customers, Bournemouth Bus Company, bought brake linings which they thought were manufactured by Ferodo. The bus garage is at the bottom of the hill and although the brakes were indeed applied, the linings had already burnt out being made of what looked like paper. When I inspected the boxes I found them to be Chinese copies spelt Ferrodo (with two R's). The were quite a few accidents caused by these fake linings. I would not be surprised if fake linings are being used here of varing quality.

[longstebe]

I was lucky it was only a Toyota Camry.

[fireblade919]

Ok rip to those killed ? If the thai government put in place mandatory speed limiters on all trucks ! Example trucks would only be able to drive at say 90 kilometers an hour! Improvised log books on there daily route! And more road safety stops of all the fatalities a year on the thai roads do you see many patrol car accidents NO why because they obey the road rules

[shaurene]

Total brake failure on a truck or bus .... Near Impossible.

Truck brakes for vehicles over 7500k (7.5T) are operated by air pressure.

Actually, the air pressure works a brake actuator. The actuator is a very powerful spring and diaphragm device. The spring puts the brake ON. The air holds the brake OFF.

On a ten wheeler truck there are six actuators, one for each brake drum. If one fails on the air side .. All air pressure would be lost and the brakes would go on. If one fails on the spring side .. The actuator would break open under the pressure of the spring, air pressure would be lost, the brakes would go on. These devices are good and virtually fail proof, they have been in use for the past 50 years or so.

Any driver that claims and any authority that accepts "total brake failure" should be thoroughly investigated and dealt with.

Ye correct but quite a few of these trucks on the road can be older than 50yrs I would say.

[Borzandy]

Total brake failure on a truck or bus .... Near Impossible.

Truck brakes for vehicles over 7500k (7.5T) are operated by air pressure.

Actually, the air pressure works a brake actuator. The actuator is a very powerful spring and diaphragm device. The spring puts the brake ON. The air holds the brake OFF.

On a ten wheeler truck there are six actuators, one for each brake drum. If one fails on the air side .. All air pressure would be lost and the brakes would go on. If one fails on the spring side .. The actuator would break open under the pressure of the spring, air pressure would be lost, the brakes would go on. These devices are good and virtually fail proof, they have been in use for the past 50 years or so.

Any driver that claims and any authority that accepts "total brake failure" should be thoroughly investigated and dealt with.

"Total brake failure on a truck or bus .... Near Impossible." Yes, it is possible in Thailand, trucks with a lack of maintenance, mechanics with a lack of training and professionalism.

[monkey4u]

Total brake failure on a truck or bus .... Near Impossible.

Truck brakes for vehicles over 7500k (7.5T) are operated by air pressure.

Actually, the air pressure works a brake actuator. The actuator is a very powerful spring and diaphragm device. The spring puts the brake ON. The air holds the brake OFF.

On a ten wheeler truck there are six actuators, one for each brake drum. If one fails on the air side .. All air pressure would be lost and the brakes would go on. If one fails on the spring side .. The actuator would break open under the pressure of the spring, air pressure would be lost, the brakes would go on. These devices are good and virtually fail proof, they have been in use for the past 50 years or so.

Any driver that claims and any authority that accepts "total brake failure" should be thoroughly investigated and dealt with.

You are forgetting that if the brakes are way out of adjustment due to the drums being machined oversize, and the linings worn low

Nothing makes contact, when you try to adjust them they jump the S cam.

I have seen air brakes locked on and the wheel spins around, you could put a match book between the drum and linings

S cam brakes are simple to repair but in a country with No maintenance you are better off with a boat anchor

[glasswort]

Total brake failure on a truck or bus .... Near Impossible.

Truck brakes for vehicles over 7500k (7.5T) are operated by air pressure.

Actually, the air pressure works a brake actuator. The actuator is a very powerful spring and diaphragm device. The spring puts the brake ON. The air holds the brake OFF.

On a ten wheeler truck there are six actuators, one for each brake drum. If one fails on the air side .. All air pressure would be lost and the brakes would go on. If one fails on the spring side .. The actuator would break open under the pressure of the spring, air pressure would be lost, the brakes would go on. These devices are good and virtually fail proof, they have been in use for the past 50 years or so.

Any driver that claims and any authority that accepts "total brake failure" should be thoroughly investigated and dealt with.

All these technical details may well be true but are they applicable to Thailand; particularly in respect of the heaps of junk, of which you see many on Thai roads?

[BB24]

Some people may think that people over-react whenever a story comes out about another road death in Thailand. And some people may think that places like India are worse, because 138,258 people died of road accidents in India (2012). But IMO they are not - Thailand is by far the most dangerous place I have ever driven - and the figures prove that to be correct.

The best measure of road safety is the number of deaths per 100,000 population. India’s accident death rate of 18.9 for every 100,000 people is only a little higher than the global average of 18.

The top 10 worst road safety countries in the World, as measured by death rates per 100,000 drivers are:

10. China (20.5)

9. Malaysia (25)

8. Saudi Arabia (28)

7. South Africa (32)

6. Iraq (31)

5. Iran (34)

4. Nigeria (33)

3. Oman (34)

2. Venezuela (37.2)

1. Thailand (38)

Thailand IS the most dangerous country in the World to drive a vehicle!!

And like so many others, I agree that it is about time the Thai Govt/PM seriously addressed this issue. And as I and many others have said before, the first thing they should do is force the Police to start enforcing the road rules - they only have to look at USA, Europe, Aus etc etc to get some ideas.

But more likely they will start recording road deaths as 'suicide' or 'heart attack' to reduce the number of officially recorded road deaths.

[zyphodb]

Some people may think that people over-react whenever a story comes out about another road death in Thailand. And some people may think that places like India are worse, because 138,258 people died of road accidents in India (2012). But IMO they are not - Thailand is by far the most dangerous place I have ever driven - and the figures prove that to be correct.

The best measure of road safety is the number of deaths per 100,000 population. India’s accident death rate of 18.9 for every 100,000 people is only a little higher than the global average of 18.

The top 10 worst road safety countries in the World, as measured by death rates per 100,000 drivers are:

10. China (20.5)

9. Malaysia (25)

8. Saudi Arabia (28)

7. South Africa (32)

6. Iraq (31)

5. Iran (34)

4. Nigeria (33)

3. Oman (34)

2. Venezuela (37.2)

1. Thailand (38)

Thailand IS the most dangerous country in the World to drive a vehicle!!

And like so many others, I agree that it is about time the Thai Govt/PM seriously addressed this issue. And as I and many others have said before, the first thing they should do is force the Police to start enforcing the road rules - they only have to look at USA, Europe, Aus etc etc to get some ideas.

But more likely they will start recording road deaths as 'suicide' or 'heart attack' to reduce the number of officially recorded road deaths.

They already fiddle the figures on road fatality's, apparently they only count people who die at the accident scene, not the ones who die on the way to or at the hospital, so the real figures must be much worse

[ToddinChonburi]

Yes brakes can fail, we have run offs on the interstates in the mountains. When brakes get to hot they will fail. I am sure this did not happen here but if truck was over weight and traveling to fast with very little pad, a disaster waiting to happen. I wonder what kind of inspection they really do on the truck after something like this.

[Johnny S]

Leave the truckdriver in the burning truck - no one need that bastard back on the roads ...

[timendres]

Some people may think that people over-react whenever a story comes out about another road death in Thailand. And some people may think that places like India are worse, because 138,258 people died of road accidents in India (2012). But IMO they are not - Thailand is by far the most dangerous place I have ever driven - and the figures prove that to be correct.

The best measure of road safety is the number of deaths per 100,000 population. India’s accident death rate of 18.9 for every 100,000 people is only a little higher than the global average of 18.

The top 10 worst road safety countries in the World, as measured by death rates per 100,000 drivers are:

10. China (20.5)

9. Malaysia (25)

8. Saudi Arabia (28)

7. South Africa (32)

6. Iraq (31)

5. Iran (34)

4. Nigeria (33)

3. Oman (34)

2. Venezuela (37.2)

1. Thailand (38)

Thailand IS the most dangerous country in the World to drive a vehicle!!

And like so many others, I agree that it is about time the Thai Govt/PM seriously addressed this issue. And as I and many others have said before, the first thing they should do is force the Police to start enforcing the road rules - they only have to look at USA, Europe, Aus etc etc to get some ideas.

But more likely they will start recording road deaths as 'suicide' or 'heart attack' to reduce the number of officially recorded road deaths.

I wonder what percentage of that is increased due to the prevalence of motorcycles here. It is much easier to die in a motorcycle accident than when you are protected by the shell of a car or truck.

That said, Thailand still ranks much too high in accidents and carnage.

[BB24]

Good point.

They do have a lot of bikes/scooters in India, China and most of SEAsia - but probably more here as a percentage of the total.

But here there is a higher percentage of bike/scooter riders without a helment (or any protection) than anywhere I have been.

However - it still remains the same solution - enforce the Laws !!

Maybe someone can send this to the appropriate people in the Thai Govt?

POLICE - (verb) po·lice : to control (something) by making sure that the rules and regulations are being followed; to enforce Laws by controlling people's behaviors; to 'police' the rules.

[peecee]

Total brake failure on a truck or bus .... Near Impossible.

Truck brakes for vehicles over 7500k (7.5T) are operated by air pressure.

Actually, the air pressure works a brake actuator. The actuator is a very powerful spring and diaphragm device. The spring puts the brake ON. The air holds the brake OFF.

On a ten wheeler truck there are six actuators, one for each brake drum. If one fails on the air side .. All air pressure would be lost and the brakes would go on. If one fails on the spring side .. The actuator would break open under the pressure of the spring, air pressure would be lost, the brakes would go on. These devices are good and virtually fail proof, they have been in use for the past 50 years or so.

Any driver that claims and any authority that accepts "total brake failure" should be thoroughly investigated and dealt with.

I hope he's severely dealt with, but that depends on the size of his wallet!

[PETERTHEEATER]

So the armchair RTA experts have been given the full details of the accident and have made a conclusion Which means that the truck driver did not suffer from a heart attack, stroke or other incapacitation. The experts know that he was not a competent middle aged family man eking out a living. The reason that the BiBs don't need to investigate incidents such as this is because they employ the TVF posters to do the job for them!

[jdinasia]

So the armchair RTA experts have been given the full details of the accident and have made a conclusion Which means that the truck driver did not suffer from a heart attack, stroke or other incapacitation. The experts know that he was not a competent middle aged family man eking out a living. The reason that the BiBs don't need to investigate incidents such as this is because they employ the TVF posters to do the job for them!

What does this story have to do with the army?

[billphillips]

So the armchair RTA experts have been given the full details of the accident and have made a conclusion Which means that the truck driver did not suffer from a heart attack, stroke or other incapacitation. The experts know that he was not a competent middle aged family man eking out a living. The reason that the BiBs don't need to investigate incidents such as this is because they employ the TVF posters to do the job for them!

An interesting point of view but clouded by the op info that the driver was taken into custody. Presumably the stroke or heart attack would have to continue in his cell because there is no mention of hospital.

Middle aged driver eking out a living is not, in my mind, an excuse for endangering other people's lives. But we are all different I suppose.

The term "total brake failure" is quite commonly given as the cause of HGV collisions in Thailand. It's also a totally ridicules reason because it's not possible in most cases. It will be interesting to hear if the cause of this collision is determined to be the old fallback " total brake failure"

[zyphodb]

Good point.

They do have a lot of bikes/scooters in India, China and most of SEAsia - but probably more here as a percentage of the total.

But here there is a higher percentage of bike/scooter riders without a helment (or any protection) than anywhere I have been.

However - it still remains the same solution - enforce the Laws !!

Maybe someone can send this to the appropriate people in the Thai Govt?

POLICE - (verb) po·lice : to control (something) by making sure that the rules and regulations are being followed; to enforce Laws by controlling people's behaviors; to 'police' the rules.

Do you honestly think anyone in the Thai government would care? Unless it happened to someone in their immediate family of course, but even then it would just be put down to Karma...

[revgreen]

Some people may think that people over-react whenever a story comes out about another road death in Thailand. And some people may think that places like India are worse, because 138,258 people died of road accidents in India (2012). But IMO they are not - Thailand is by far the most dangerous place I have ever driven - and the figures prove that to be correct.

The best measure of road safety is the number of deaths per 100,000 population. India’s accident death rate of 18.9 for every 100,000 people is only a little higher than the global average of 18.

The top 10 worst road safety countries in the World, as measured by death rates per 100,000 drivers are:

10. China (20.5)

9. Malaysia (25)

8. Saudi Arabia (28)

7. South Africa (32)

6. Iraq (31)

5. Iran (34)

4. Nigeria (33)

3. Oman (34)

2. Venezuela (37.2)

1. Thailand (38)

Thailand IS the most dangerous country in the World to drive a vehicle!!

And like so many others, I agree that it is about time the Thai Govt/PM seriously addressed this issue. And as I and many others have said before, the first thing they should do is force the Police to start enforcing the road rules - they only have to look at USA, Europe, Aus etc etc to get some ideas.

But more likely they will start recording road deaths as 'suicide' or 'heart attack' to reduce the number of officially recorded road deaths.

I wonder what percentage of that is increased due to the prevalence of motorcycles here. It is much easier to die in a motorcycle accident than when you are protected by the shell of a car or truck.

That said, Thailand still ranks much too high in accidents and carnage.

Vietnam isn't in the top 20 and I've always thought they have an even higher amount of bikes than Thailand.

Either way.. the lack of regard toward personal safety doesn't help at all. No helmets, driving drunk, etc. I've only been here for a year, but in that time 3 people I've personally known have been killed on their bikes. It's really a shame that should be addressed, but probably won't.